The present disclosure generally relates to firearms, and more particularly to an improved cartridge magazine for a firearm.
Auto-loading firearms generally utilize a magazine for storing and automatically feeding ammunition cartridges or rounds into the firing system. When such firearms are discharged, a cartridge held in the chamber at the rear of the barrel is struck by a firing pin or striker to detonate the charge and propel the bullet or slug down the muzzle. This causes the action to reciprocate rearwards wherein the spent cartridge case or casing is extracted from the chamber and ejected from the firearm. A new cartridge presented by the magazine is then stripped therefrom by return movement of the action and loaded into the chamber in preparation for the next firing cycle.
The last expended case ejection has been a problem since the beginning of auto-loading magazine fed firearm designs. High speed photography has shown that autoloaders consistently eject spent casings by impacting the next round in the magazine more so in some instances than the firearm's ejector mechanism. When no next round is present, such as in the case of an empty magazine, the expended and extracted case upon occasion may slip off the extractor and does not reach the ejector, thereby remaining in the firearm until the magazine is eventually removed for replenishment with new cartridges or is manually shaken out of the action by the user.
A magazine with improved cartridge feed system is desired.